The Offshore Combatant Vessel (OCV) is a planned multipurpose small warship class for the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN). Through the use of modular mission packages, the ships will be capable of operating in multiple roles, primarily border patrol, mine warfare

Mine warfare

Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices:*Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to destroy vehicles...

, and hydrographic survey

Hydrographic survey

Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/drilling and related disciplines. Strong emphasis is placed on soundings, shorelines, tides, currents, sea floor and submerged...

. Procurement plans for the class, designated SEA 1180, call for 20 vessels, which could displace

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

 up to 2,000 tonnes. These ships will replace four separate ship classes in active service, totalling 26 vessels.

Planning and design

First made public in Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030

Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030

Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030 is an Australian Government white paper released on 2 May 2009. The publication seeks to provide guidance for Australia's defence policy and the Australian Defence Force during the period 2009–2030.-Background:In 2000, the then Coalition...

, the 2009 Department of Defence

Department of Defence (Australia)

The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...

 white paper

White paper

A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...

, the planned vessels stem from Government instructions for the RAN to rationalise patrol, mine warfare

Mine warfare

Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices:*Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to destroy vehicles...

, and hydrographic survey

Hydrographic survey

Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/drilling and related disciplines. Strong emphasis is placed on soundings, shorelines, tides, currents, sea floor and submerged...

 assets into a single class of warship. Twenty vessels are proposed. The project has received the procurment designation SEA 1180.

Instead of being capable of performing all roles simultaneously, the ships will have a modular mission payload system like the Standard Flex system used by the Danish Navy, or the system used by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

's Littoral Combat Ship

Littoral combat ship

A Littoral Combat Ship is a type of relatively small surface vessel intended for operations in the littoral zone . It is "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals." Two ship classes are the first...

s: mission-specific equipment will be fitted to containerised modules, which can be enchanged for different modules when the ship needs to change roles. The use of containerised modules means that equipment can be upgraded without taking the ships out of service for refit, and if necessary can be fitted to requisitioned civilian vessels. The cost in developing and implementing the modular system is predicted to be offset by the savings in the areas of maintenance (having to purchase and maintain stocks to repair four different designs), personnel (having to retrain sailors when they transfer to a new ship), and administration.

It is anticipated that the new ships may displace

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

 anywhere up to 2,000 tonnes, although defence magazine editor Kym Bergmann predicts that this 'worst case' would require 50,000 tons of steel or aluminium to be fabricated (compared to 36,000 tons for the Collins class submarine replacement project

Collins class submarine replacement project

The Collins class submarine replacement project is a Royal Australian Navy effort to replace the Navy's six Collins class submarines with 12 new Australian designed submarines from 2025...

), and unless multiple shipbuilders are involved, the 12- to 18-month construction time per vessel will see the last ship enter service during the 2040s.

Instead of building all 20 vessels to the same design, the idea of hull variants optimised for different roles is also being explored: the module system will allow a ship designed for one role to be rapidly reconfigured to serve in another role, with a small but acceptable loss in capability compared to a 'native' OCV. The OCVs could be designed to carry a helicopter or an unmanned aerial vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicle

An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...

 to improve each ship's surveillance range, bus this avenue is dependant on further study and cost-benefit analysis

Cost-benefit analysis

Cost–benefit analysis , sometimes called benefit–cost analysis , is a systematic process for calculating and comparing benefits and costs of a project for two purposes: to determine if it is a sound investment , to see how it compares with alternate projects...

.

International cooperation

The Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 has begun plans for a similar vessel under the Future Surface Combatant

Future Surface Combatant

The Global Combat Ship is a ship design and construction programme currently underway by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence to replace the Royal Navy's 13 Type 23 frigates. The programme has been in development since 1998, initially under the designation "Future Surface Combatant "...

 program, designated the Future Mine Countermeasures/Hydrographic/Patrol Vessel (FMHPV). At the start of 2010, it was announced that the governments of Australia and the United Kingdom were exploring the potential for idea-sharing and cooperation on the design of the OCV and FMHPV, as well as planned replacements for the , Type 22

Type 22 frigate

The Type 22 Broadsword class is a class of frigate built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen of the class were built in total, with production divided into three batches. With the decommissioning of HMS Cornwall on 30 June 2011, the final Type 22 of the Royal Navy was retired from service...

, and Type 23

Type 23 frigate

The Type 23 frigate is a class of frigate built for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. All the ships were first named after British Dukes, thus the class is also known as the Duke class. The first Type 23 was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, was launched in May 2000 and commissioned in...

 frigates. Although the nations will share their analyses, a common design or shared construction program is unlikely, as the two nations have different needs and replacement schedules. The RAN is also observing the development of the United States Navy Littoral Combat Ships, in order to take advantage of lessons learned during the program. While designing the Independence class

Independence class littoral combat ship

The Independence class is a class of littoral combat ships built for the United States Navy.The hull design evolved from a project at Austal to design a 40 knot cruise ship...

 trimarans for the program, Australian-owned shipbuilder Austal

Austal

Austal is an Australian company that specializes in the design and construction of aluminium vessels. Its main products include passenger and freight ferries, luxury yachts and military vessels....

 also prepared a scaled-down version that could serve as the basis for the Australian OCV.

Role

The OCV will replace 26 vessels across four warship classes: the s, the s, the s, and the es. The new ships will be used for offshore and littoral patrol and combat, border protection, anti-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, mine warfare, and hydrographic survey. It is plausible that the OCVs will operate in support of the ships; amphibious operations

Amphibious warfare

Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...

would benefit from the survey and mine warfare capabilities of the ships.